The invention relates generally to a device for sterilizing toothbrushes and more particularly to a device which employs a germicidal lamp to irradiate the air about toothbrushes which are held within a mounted casing for selective removal and replacement therefrom.
Germicidal lamps, the sterilizing element in the present invention, emit short wave ultraviolet radiation. The wavelengths of ultraviolet radiation which are most lethal to disease causing micro-organisms are the short waves in the region of 2537 A. Some germicidal lamps also emit a shorter wavelength of ultraviolet radiation, namely 1849 A. The wavelengths in this particular region have the capacity of creating ozone in the air. Ozone, itself, also being a germicidal agent. Ozone, being a gas, diffuses and sanitizes the places not reached by the ultraviolet rays.
All types of micro-organisms known to man, including bacteria, virus, and mold spores can be destroyed by germicidal ultraviolet rays which directly strike the micro-organisms in the air or on exposed surfaces. The exposure time of the ultraviolet radiation necessary to kill the micro-organisms varies inversely with the intensity of the rays. For example, the average bacterium will be killed in ten seconds at a distance of six inches from a lamp well known in the art.
If one is exposed to direct or reflected high intensity short wave ultraviolet radiation over a prolonged length of time, a painful irritation of the eyes (conjunctivitis) and reddening, or even burns of the skin may result. Any application of germicidal lamps must, therefore, keep this very important fact in mind.